With the Alliance of American Football coming and going this year, and the XFL coming (and maybe or maybe not going) next year, it’s been easy to forget that arena football is still a thing. But it is.
The continuing existence of arena football was brought to our attention with the news that Dexter McCluster, a former Pro Bowl return man, has signed with the Massachusetts Pirates of the National Arena League.
“I’m here to learn as fast as possible, get to know my teammates and my new brothers and get in where I fit in. I’m going to work hard, I’m going to push and motivate myself as well as others and we’ll see where the chips fall,” McCluster said in a statement released by the team.
Although arena football has declined in popularity, there are still multiple arena leagues in business. They don’t pay full-time salaries, but McCluster, who made more than $12 million in his NFL career, just wants to play.